THE RECAP | A female parole officer, Shauna Taylor, is found dead, electrocuted/tortured after having her throat slit. A recent harassment complaint leads Beckett and the boys to Simon Doyle, who posits that a billion lives are at stake if he is not freed — and he knows this because “I am from the future.” (The year 2035, to be exact, where he is a temporal anthropologist.) Simon says it is/was his job to go back in time and protect Shauna, after his people saw spikes in this timeline after another man jumped back to 2013.

A hooker and the manager who directed her to get inside Shauna’s apartment point the team at Garrett Ward, a soldier type who didn’t seem to exist until a few years ago. Ward next kills Shauna’s stepbrother in the course of grilling him about the location of “the child.” But in actuality, Ward is seeking high school Paul Deschille, whom Simon says will grow up to create an energy shield that saves humanity during the Bloody Energy War. Ward is caught in the midst of assaulting Deschille, who seems to squelch the time-travel theory by saying Ward was merely avenging his years-ago arrest and imprisonment. Yet when Rick goes to give Simon back his handheld gadget, he has vanished for a second time. Recalled, maybe…?

Meanwhile on the homefront, Castle — fed up with Pi’s presence — confronts Alexis about the loft sitch. She agrees it’s time for a change, and reveals that she and Pi have found a place, to share together. Later, Beckett shares her two cents — that Alexis has seen her father move on with someone new, and is now trying to figure out where she fits in. As the hour closes, Rick beseeches his little girl once more to reconsider, but Alexis maintains it is her mistake, if that, to make, and he must believe in her.

THE REVIEW | First of all, props to Chuck alum Joshua Gomez for really selling us on Simon and his futuristic tales — which included the (possible) reveal that Rick and Kate do in fact marry, then have three kids. In the future, also, it’s Senator Beckett, while Castle has put mystery novels behind him to pen “serious literature.” Beckett all the while writes off Simon as a crackpot, yet stops him from revealing the kids’ names.

The case itself seemed to drag on a bit long, and I had to turn on the closed-captioning to keep track of fast-talking Simon’s mumbo jumbo about the energy wars and what not. But I loved the touch at the end with the coffee stain — it’s never not fun to make Beckett question her straight-arrow beliefs.

The Alexis stuff…. I’d love to hear from readers who have/had a 19-year-old daughter, and how they’d respond to her bristling at the words, “Let me?” and asserting that she can do as and live with whomever she pleases while a student at a college her parent is paying for. (I only have sons, age 10, so I’m curious.) But hey, whatever frees up room at the loft, right?

I haven’t read through the comments (too many), but we really enjoyed this episode. Joshua Gomez did a great job and is a very good actor – made the role totally believable. We are so happy to have the gang back together, working on the case of the week,too.

I really enjoyed the episode, but would it kill the writers to put together a timeline so that they could all keep it straight? Last episode it seemed to be October, and now it’s only late August/early September with the talk of Pi being there for a month and Alexis going back to school “next week”. These are the types of things that just drive me crazy!

I liked this episode it was a lot of fun with the Is It True or Isn’t it? with the whole guy from the future. It offered a fun look into the future ( and I kep thinking: Well now if Castle gets canceled. we’ll know where they end up — happy, married, 3 kids, senator, & lit writer. The only bad part in the ep, for me, was the Alexis/Pi thing. I don’t mind Alexis per say. She’s 19 and all that, but the ridiculousness that is the Pi situation is just annoying and I can’t get through those scenes fast enough. It’s irritating, not funny, and Alexis’ BS attitude while living on her father’s money grated. I can’t wait for this part of the show this season to end.

Two major issues with the episode, which I didn’t post last night:
1.) No discussion about how Espo feels having his leadership position yanked away because Beckett decided to come back. Could’ve been a nice conversation, but I guess it doesn’t matter…
2.) Also, I guess Sully never mattered either. Does he just disappear, because five’s a crowd? Castle can stay on as a consultant, Beckett comes back to the team but Sully goes away? Once again, showing the pointlessness of the season’s early plot devices.
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Not saying I like Sully, or that I don’t like Beckett back as the team leader, but come on… It’s a bit lazy how they bounce from plot point to plot point some time. I guess they assume that the majority of audience members won’t care as long as the status quo is restored?

Good points- I agree. I thought there’d be some discussion to explain how Beckett just re-assumed her leadership position (or didn’t, as you’d somewhat expect maybe, but that didn’t happen here). I’m not sure some of the writers are familiar with working in a public service position, because hierarchy and bureaucracy are kind of key elements of jobs like that, and Beckett would probably not just automatically get her job back after leaving to take another job with the feds. It’s almost like TPTB handed the writing to some newbies, who have great ideas for storylines and some funny lines, but they don’t have the attention to detail that keeps people from getting annoyed, as displayed by every other commenter here.

I’ve never understood why the show glosses over as much as they do after a storyline “ends.” It’s gotten worse over the last two seasons, though, starting with Meredith’s conversation with Kate, and followed by Alexis’ kidnapping.
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My assumption has always been that, because Castle must(?) be less serialized than other shows on the network, they do less callbacks or references to past episodes that would knock new or irregular viewers off-kilter. But still… kind of frustrating, especially considering the show clearly DOES pay attention to detail when they want to.

I think there are a couple of things at play. First off, in 43 minutes there is only so much we are going to get. I don’t always agree with the choices, there are things I often want to see and don’t, but I also know that is in part to the fact that the network has a heavy say in what winds up in the episode. With all the shots that they take 3-4 angles it is a wonder that they edit as well as they do sometimes (although your wide angle stand ins call was a glaring shot for sure). I don’t know that a discussion point on Espo was necessary regarding the hierarchy. I think as the show has deepened the bench of secondary characters like Lanie, Espo and Ryan storyline demands continue to be a challenge to cover all aspects of the story as it moves forward. I know everyone misses Lanie, but I for one am missing more Martha as well. I think it is tough to strike a balance in a 43 minute episode and to keep it running in parallel with the crime of the week. At the close of the episode last week, Espo made it clear that they missed having Beckett there and this week we got Espo/Ryan in the interrogation room without Beckett and Castle so it at least appears the playing field has leveled a bit. Finally, there is no confirmation of Sully returning/not returning, so I don’t think it’s a dead end entirely. There are plenty of cops who in earlier seasons played a roll similar to Sully’s, The woman with the long curly hair comes to mind although I can’t think of her character’s name right now was in several episodes season 2 and has not been seen since.

Ugh, walking and typing on my phone…
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The big plot points just feel so haphazard sometimes. Like they are true devices merely meant to bring the characters from one storyline to the next.
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Many of us online viewers knew things would go back to “normal” after Episode 3, but it appears the majority of viewers didn’t know that. So why not act like there are true character-centric ramifications for losing your job, going back to where you belong, and, on a smaller scale, having your leadership position shifted back to your good friend?
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Even a line of dialogue or two, of Beckett checking in with Esposito this episode and seeing where they stand, would have been appreciated. Because, though Beckett is my favorite character on this show by a mile, all these other characters matter, too. At least to me.
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(Going back even further in time, I was bummed Kate never thanked Kevin ONSCREEN for saving her from a 10-story drop. Just stuff like that.)

I think the issue with Alexis is not with the storyline but with the acting/or lack of direction while shooting. Half of the time I can’t see what feelings she’s supposed to show. Perfect exemple : at the end of Cops and Robbers, is that a grateful look or a hateful look she throws to Beckett? To me that change entirely the kind of relationship they have today. It also doesn’t help that I have the disturbing feeling that Alexis is flirting with Castle in their scenes together!
Anyway, her screen time is time that I would rather see showing others characters like Lanie, Gates or the boys. She’s 19, surely they can write credible storyline where we see her only 2 or 3 times during a season. It wouldn’t shock anyone.

Otherwise, good episode! A little bit of a filler maybe but this kind of show is not supposed to rock our world every episode.

On thing left : thank god!! I’ve finally found out what’s bothering me about Fillion’s acting!!!! Look at the scene with Alexis in Castle’s office at the beginning. He’s all eyebrows, head shaking and over pronuncing every word. He does that anytime he’s supposed to be serious for more than two sentences! “you go back to college next week, what then?” It’s cringeworthy and I can’t unsee it now!

Not a fan of the Alexis/Pi storyline either. Maybe make Pi the murder victim of the week and Alexis is accused of his murder? That might work and get her back home at the end of the case.
When Castle was so crazy Alexis had to be the grown up. Now he’s being the grown up so she’s having a delayed adolescence. She is being very un Alexis right now but thinking back on some of the stupid stuff we did in college it’s not that much of a stretch. College kids think they know more than they really do and that life is passing them by when they need to enjoy the freedom they have before real life starts after graduation. Just my two cents worth.
Also loved the Senator Beckett and their three kids and the coffee stain at the end was awesome!
Plus remember Castle has tried new things before such as killing off Derek Storm so doing serious literature wouldn’t be a big stretch.

Some people write that whether it was just crazy people talking or an actual sci-fi is debatable, however in my book there isn’t any room for debate here. And that’s because of the letter.
I’ve screenshotted and compared both letters and they ARE the same. They don’t just look the same, they actually HAVE TO BE the same physical object. As far as I’m concerned it’s practically impossible to create the same exact spill pattern twice. And the pattern on both the letter that Beckett was holding and the evidence photo was identical. Down to all the curves and ‘bold’ borders of the spill in some places. And that simply cannot be an accident, the probability of this happening to two different pieces of paper is so remote that, since it’s a movie, that’s the moment when one should say ‘oh, so it is time travel after all’. That’s because in this scenario time travel makes more sense.

Am I missing something there? Correct me if I’m wrong :)

So, obviously, what they did in the film is they spilled the coffee first, then took the picture. Now, the question is, what was their reasoning? In my opinion, the most probable answer to that is that they JUST wanted viewers to wonder whether Joshua Gomez was a time traveler. They didn’t realize that this actually eliminated one of the theories.

But what if they knew that? What if there is an already scripted plot about time travel, and all that time we’ve been watching a sci-fi series, not a crime / drama, without even realizing? Wouldn’t that be cool?
So, now I’m waiting for more sci-fi, time traveling episodes, or at least Beckett going into politics and running for senator. :)

Like that’s going to happen…

What’s your take on that? Do you agree that the spill is such strong evidence supporting time travel variant?

Yes, I agree that the coffee spill is such evidence supporting the time travel variant!! and that last scene with Beckett, should be the end of this episode! I don;t know why, I felt, that the end scene between Alexis & Castle took away the time travel moment!.

Did anyone notice that the content of the letter also changed? When Beckett first spilled coffee on the original letter, it said P.S. 370 (the kid’s school), but after drying it, the letter said P.S. 311, exactly as the copy of the letter that ward had in his possession. I don’t know if that is a mistake or not but it was certainly thought provoking.

OMG! I so want to have one episode in a 20 year future, when Caskett is what Simon said, and Kate is kicking ass as Senator, Can we have that Mr. Marlowe, pretty PLEASE? They can be call out to help in the old case or something, I really need to know the crazy stuff that goes between them along the way

Hell, have a scene where Simon returns to the future and is interviewed by the chairman of the Oversight Committee, an older Senator Kate Beckett (btw if she’s a NY senator, that means 50/50 chance she has Bracken’s seat). Beckett opens the meeting by handing him his tracer device and telling him “you forgot something”.

Incidentally… continuity glitch. As a high school student, Deschiles decides to become a physicist. OK let’s assume he was just about to graduate early. A fall graduation, remember, because he wrote the letter in september. Three years for a bachelors degree (again implausible in a pure science but whatever). Assuming he skips his MS program, that leaves him two and a half years to earn his PhD so he can be a post doc in time for the story six years later… in a field where doctorates usually take six years to earn. There’s no way enough time has elapsed for this to work… unless by “post doc” the writers really mean “doctoral student”.

As a university professor–and a father of a 20 year old and 18 year old–I think that Alexis’ actions are pretty unremarkable for kids that age. I see it all the time with my students and occasionally with my kids. They think they know everything when they are 18-19, and nobody can tell them any different. It’s amazing how much smarter they get about life once they get to be sophomores or juniors…and how much smarter they see their parents becoming right around the same time. I actually like the tension between Castle and Alexis–it makes their relationship more realistic and should make for some good storylines.

Also, putting aside the question of time travel, it would not be a stretch to envision Beckett in politics. Not only has it been established that she was originally going to be a lawyer–and she is smart, ambitious, and now has access to money to finance a campaign–but would it not be fantastic to see her take down the person responsible for her mother’s murder and then really stick it to him by taking his seat in the Senate?

As Mark Twain said “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he’d learned in seven years.” My objection to the father daughter interaction is not Alexis, I agree it’s typical for her age, it’s Castle’s reaction. As long as I’m paying most of your living expenses, you live by my rules like it or not. I’ll agree to reasonable compromises, but living with a freeloading dimwit, nope. You get to learn that leason from that mistake on your own dime.

I don’t like how Beckett came back and nothing changed. Story line wise 1. she should not be Espo and Ryan’s boss, she should have to report to them plus any animosity from the guys that she came back like nothing happen and they didn’t get promoted. 2. Feds bring up charges against her 3. She gets blacklisted and has to do something else 4. She gets demoted.
Felt like a missed opportunity

Eventually Pi is going to do something that gives Alexis her pay back for what she is doing to her father that will be her life lesson for moving in with someone she knows nothing about .He’ll probably do something illegal that also gets her in trouble or he leaves her high and dry to pay all the bills they have incurred .As for Beckett and Castle please AWM get them moved in together so we can have much more romance and showing of love between them than there has been .PLEASE ! PLEASE ! PLEASE!

I would say that Alexis is really heading for trouble. Pi seems like the character that once things get bad, he is out the back door. While it burns on my tongue to say this… Alexis may be coming back home plus one with Pi long gone. While I understand that Alexis is nine-teen, Rick is still footing the bill, and Pi never should have lasted a month. Alexis has or may have had a bright future ahead of her but I think that she is not thinking with her head.

Remember, Simon did not say Kate was a US Senator, her political career may have just started and she is a state senator. She is still living in NY and not in DC. The kids are still living at home, so they are probably not grown. Simon says that he can’t believe Castle marries her, especially after she… He never reveals what happened, Maybe she breaks his heart before they get back together and get married.

I just hope the writers don’t go with another Beckett over the top thing ala “The Squab & the Quail”, castle is a forgiving man, but he is portrayed as a human, and as such, he has limits and issues too… as much as they want to show beckett as flawed character, they have to think in the integrity of castle too.

First – I love Joshua Gomez. Really, that’s all that needs to be said about that.

Second, just wanted to say that sorry, but past eighteen all personal decisions are up to the kid. I’m twenty-five now, but I was a nineteen year old girl not that long ago (we had the same president, anyway), and I can see why parents wish that still being financially involved in their kids life was the same thing as being able to tell them what to do in their personal lives, because nineteen year olds don’t have a great perspective on what’s good for them (although I’m sure people older than me probably think the same about twenty-five year olds) and will make mistakes they wouldn’t have to if they only listened. But those are their mistakes to make, and they’ll learn the lessons better if they figure it out themselves. More than that, trying to use your financial hold on your child to get them to do what you want when you’re no longer their legal guardian is never a good idea; even the most respectful kid has a breaking point, and it will mess with your relationship with them going forward as adults. You still have a right to state your opinions (though they tend not to listen – sorry, Castle) and try to change their minds if you can, but after eighteen, there is no “let,” especially when your kid is being as calm and reasonable as Alexis was being in this episode. At that point, you can only hope you raised your kid well, be ready to support them or possibly yell at them for the epic stupidity as the case may be, decide whether or not you want to teach a lesson or not by bailing or not bailing them from jail, and hope that the worst mistake your kid ever makes at nineteen is move into a small apartment with a hippie. Get a haircut, Pi.

As far as opinion of Alexis goes, let’s be honest – if this were another show, and if Alexis were the center of the series, and if it was her version of Pacey (or Dawson) or Damon (or Stefan) or Logan (or Piz, or … well, does anyone still like Duncan?) or whoever instead of Pi that she was trying to move in with, wouldn’t quite a few more of us be sticking up for Alexis and her rights as an adult, and possibly deriding Castle for getting in the way of true love? Context is fun. Personally, I think moving in with anybody at nineteen isn’t a great idea, no matter who it is (unless maybe you’re on one of those shows that seems determined to kill all the parents. Or if you’re Cory and Topanga, because they’re Cory and Topanga), but I still accept that it’s the nineteen-year-old’s decision to make, even while usually agreeing with the parents.

Of course, the above advice doesn’t apply to serious situations, like abusive relationships or drugs. Obviously you should try to interfere in those cases. Lots. And by any means possible.